Starter for internal-combustion engines.



1,257,784. Patented Feb. 26, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

VWTNESSES:

INVENTOR ATTORNEY J. A. ,BEIRNS.

STARTER FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES.

' APPLICATION FILED DEC-9.1912.

1,257,784. Patented Feb. 26, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

1 rl l ATTORNEY UNITED STA ES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN A. BEIRNS, or DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

STARTER non INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 26, 1918.

- Application filed December 9, 1912. Serial No. 735,623.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I," JOHN vA. Burns, a citizen of the United States, residin at De-' troit, county of Wayne, State of Mlchigang have invented a certain new and'useful Improvement in Starters for Internal-Comtrated in the accompanying "drawings, in

which;

Figure '1, is an elevation partly in section of an apparatus embodying my invention,

. and somuch of an automobile as is necessary wheel upon the shaft 6.

having a gear wheel 72. keyed thereon adapttoillustrate its connection therewith: The electric circuits are indicated 'diagrammati cally.

, 4 3 p Fig. 2, is an elevation of the same looking from the left of Fig. 1, part toward the observer being removed and a part of the mechanism being shown broken away.

Fig. 3, is a detail illustrating the stop mechanism. a is a fly wheel provided with gear teeth I) around lts periphery. 0 (Fig. 1) represents the floor of the body of the automobile in section. The floor 0 is slotted at g for.

the purpose hereinafter described. d represents a cross piece of the frame. 6 is the shaft of the starting motor. 1 is a spur gear 9 is a counter shaft ed to be driven by the spur wheel I. The

shafts gand e bear in a housing inclosingthe gear wheels f and it. The shaft 9 is squared at its outer end. at i.

the shaft 9 and adapted to slide thereon. The hub of the gear wheel k 15 provided with a peripheral groove m adapted to rev leis a gear, wheel fitted upon the squared portion 2' of,

ceive a fork to shift the gear wheel is in the usual ,yvay. The shaft 9 is so located that when the gear wheel .70 is moved to its inner position it engages the gear teeth I) on the fly wheel a and when moved to its outer position, as shown in Fig. l the shaftig is mod p its upper end with a pedal or oot piece 8.

The operator may press. the rod go forward by the action of his foot on the pedal 8 pressing the cross head r along the slot 9.

a is an arm secured upon the rod 39, its

outer end being forked and engaging in the slotm in the hub of the gear wheel is. t

' is a pressure spring interposed between the standard n and the arm a and acting to press the rod p to its rearward position so as to carry the gear wheel is out of engagement, as shown in Fig. 1. o is a slot in the toward its forward end where it .slides through the standard a. w is a pawl pivoted at as (Fig. 2) to a stationary support and extending into the slot 22 in the standard it and adapted to engage in the slotv o in the rod 19 when said slots register with each other. 3 is an armature on the pawl w and a is a magnet adapted to attract thearmature y to oscillate the pawl w and 22 in the standard 12 when the rod p is at its position and lock the rod 1n this rearmost position.

4 is a pin, or lug, extendinglaterally from the rod 3).

5 is a switch box secured to an arm '6 -which is supported by the cross piece 03.

7, is a shaft bearing in the switch box 5. 8 is an arm keyed upon the shaft 7 and having a fork 9 at its outer end and, which fork engages over the lug 4 so that a movement of the rod 79 shall actuate the arm 8 to turn the switch box 5, its outer end being provided with a cavity. 11 is a block or contact plate adapted to reciprocate radially 1n the cavity at. the outer end of the arm 10,

the shaft 7. I 10 is an arm on the shaft 7 in between the battery 18 and 12 is a spring acting to force the block 11 outward. 23 is an arc of insulating material having its center at the center of the shaft 7 and closing the end of the switch box 5. The contact plate 11 moves along the inner surface of the are 23. 14, 15 and 16 are contact pieces, their inner ends forming contact plates in the inner surface of the are 23 and the outer ends formed to constitute binding posts. I he contact pieces 14, 15 and 16 are spaced as shown in Fig. 1 so that the contact plate 11 may contact two of them at the same time for a short interval of its travel.

17 indicates the starting motor diagrammatically. i8 is a battery by which the motor 17 may be actuated. 1919 represents conducting wires forming a part of the circuit between the contact pieces 14 and 16. 20 is a resistance coil interposed in the circuit with the conductors 19-19. 21-21 are conductors completing the circuit between the contact pieces 15 and 16 through the storage battery 18 and starting motor 17.

The operation of the above described device is as follows:

lhe engine being at rest the magnet z is not energized and the pawl w is disengaged from the slot '0 by a spring. The parts being in the position shown in Fig. l the rod is yieldingly held in its rearmost position by the spring t. The operator may press the cross headforward in the slot 9 by his foot acting against the pedal 8, pressing the rod 39 forward against the resistance of the spring 25 and moving the gear wheel is toward its engaging position with the gear teeth Z2. As the rod 79 moves forward, the arm 8 is actuated by the lug 4; turning the shaft 7, which carries with it the arm 10, the contact plate 11 moving into contact with the contact piece 15 so that there shall be a circuit from the battery 18 to the contact piece 15, through the plate 11 to the contact piece 14, through the conductors 19 and resistance 20 to the contact piece 16, thence through a conductor 21 and the motor 17 back to the battery 18, thus starting the motor 17 with a weak actuating current. After the motor has been thus started the circuit ,is broken by the plate 11 moving out of contact with the contact piece 14. When the rod p is pressed further forward the teeth of the wheel 70 engage with the teeth I) and when well engaged the plate 11 passes over the contact piece 16 forming a connection plates 15 and 16 and completing the circuit through the conductors 21, and motor 17 to give the full starting current. Then the engine is in operation the operator removes his foot from the pedal 8 and the rod ;0 is returned to its off position by the action of the spring t in which position the grooves i) and 22 register with each other. The lighting generator now being actuated, the magnet 2 acts to cause the pawl w to engage in the groove thus holding the parts looked as long as the engine is in operation.

It will be seen that in the above device the motor is started gradually so that danger of overheating and clashing gears is avoided and the gears are engaged while the motor is moving slowly beforethe full power is applied to it so that there is no danger of stripping the gears, and it is impossible to move the motor engaging part when the engine is in motion.

'1 he motor is started before the gear wheels engage thus insuring that the wheels shall come into proper relative position for their teeth to engage. The current is then shut on so that there is but little friction between the teeth until they are almost fully engaged when the full currentis thrown on.

The wheels form a toothed engaging means.

What I claim is:

1. in an electric starter having a motor engine and generator, the combination of mechanism for engaging and disengaging the motor and engine, a switch for controlling the circuit through said motor, means connecting said mechanism with said switch so that said circuit shall be open when said mechanism is in its initial position and shall be closed when said mechanism is engaged, and a mechanical lock operated by the current from the generator for actuating said lock to secure said mechanism in its initial position, and an automatic means for returning said mechanism to its disengaged position.

2. The combination of a starting motor, an engine, means for engaging and disengaging said motor with the engine, a switch having three contact pieces properly spaced, a contact plate adapted to move into position to successively engage said contact pieces in pairs, a circuit containing a resistance between the first and last of said contact pieces, a circuit including the battery and motor between the second of said contact pieces and the last thereof, said contact plate being connected so as to be moved by said engaging mechanism, said second circuit being closed after full engagement of said teeth and at an interval after the break-- ing of the first circuit.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN A. BEIRNS.

Witnesses:

AGNES M. HIPKINS, ELLIOTT J. STODDARD. 

